[Isolation and protection, a contradiction and a necessity]. / Isolement et protection, une contradiction et une nécessité.

The association of the two terms 'isolating' and 'protecting', seems counterintuitive. The practice of isolation conjures up images of an asylum or even prison, rather than a notion of safeguarding. Isolation is defined within caregiving institutions by a vast range of practices, neither rare nor recent. It is used in a variety of departments, from psychiatric isolation to septic isolation or a form of isolation common to both: social isolation resulting from institutionalisation.

[Perpetrators and victims of sexual violence]. / Violences sexuelles agies, violences sexuelles subies.

Shaped by culture and education, human sexuality is organised around the principle of mutual consent, and other limits fixed by the law, between partners in emotional exchanges and sexual relationships. When this is not the case, complex issues of sexual violence, inflicted and suffered, arise. Certain health professionals then become involved, working either with the perpetrator and/or the victims of this violence. The care can be complicated because these professionals do not know the reality of the situations described. Caution and a critical distance must therefore accompany their assessments and their clinical actions.